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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442165">the plant that never blooms (but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistakeshavebeenmade/pseuds/mistakeshavebeenmade'>mistakeshavebeenmade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>so close that your hand on my chest is my hand [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites - Joy Demorra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff with Fangs, M/M, Non-Sexual Kink, Praise Kink, Vlad Blutstein Needs A Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:35:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistakeshavebeenmade/pseuds/mistakeshavebeenmade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you know what's wrong with this carriage?" </p><p>Vlad Blutstein canonically deserves to be showered with praise until he starts to believe some of it, and that is precisely what I am here to deliver. With a side order of a playful Nathan who has decided to make his boredom Vlad's problem.</p><p>Chapter 1: Nathan's POV<br/>Chapter 2: Vlad's POV</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Vlad Blutstein/Nathan Northland</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>so close that your hand on my chest is my hand [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162652</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title is from Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you know what’s wrong with this carriage?”</p>
<p>There were, it had to be said, a great many things wrong with carriages in general. The way they enclosed the rider. The jostling, jouncing, and occasionally nauseating swaying of their motion. The boredom - at the moment, he’d even willingly pick up <i>The Very Nearly Complete History of the Northern Wereclans</i> as a welcome distraction from the monotony of sitting still and waiting. Sadly, while whoever was responsible for building the gothic monstrosity he was riding in had clearly known how to arrange for a passenger’s comfort, and it was far and away the smoothest carriage ride he’d had, the idea of pulling out so much as a shopping list to read still made his stomach roll uncomfortably. Put simply, they’d been on the road for at least an hour, and Nathan was bored.</p>
<p>Vlad, apparently, did not suffer the same inability to read while in motion, because he had pulled out a stack of parliamentary reports as soon as they’d settled themselves. He was still engrossed in them an interminable amount of time later. Worse, he was developing the slightest hint of a furrow in his brow, the fingers of his free hand were drumming ceaselessly against the upholstery of the seat, and Nathan was confident that he wasn’t reading a single word that was on the page, given how glazed they looked. These were all clear signs that whatever was holding Vlad’s attention, it was something more to do with his own circling thoughts than his notes. Nathan had every intention of correcting that.</p>
<p>“Yes, definitely a major design flaw,” he continued when his question wasn't enough to steal Vlad’s attention from, supposedly, his papers. “I’m shocked you haven’t noticed it, really.”</p>
<p>“Hm.” This was an improvement, although the noise was clearly more ‘I can tell that you are making noises, and if I also make noises, perhaps you will be satisfied and let me go back to what I was doing’ than an actual acknowledgement of what Nathan had said.</p>
<p>“I’m sure you’re anxiously waiting to hear what the flaw in this otherwise magnificent carriage is,” Nathan persisted, undeterred by Vlad’s apparent disinterest.</p>
<p>“Oh, desperately,” Vlad muttered, still clearly not paying attention.</p>
<p>“And I mean, it’s really a terrible shame. Lady Margarete clearly spent so much effort making sure it was perfect. I’d hate to have to be the one to tell her that there’s something wrong with it, but I’m afraid it can’t be helped.”</p>
<p>“Yes, terrible.” Vlad shuffled his papers, moving to the next in the stack, and Nathan noted with interest that, while he was deliberately trying to read as little on them as possible, this was the third time he’d seen that particular diagram since they left. If he’d needed any more evidence that Vlad was perseverating over, rather than studying, his notes, this would be it.</p>
<p>Clearly, it was time for drastic measures.</p>
<p>Distracted as Vlad was, and hunched over his papers as he tended to get when he was trying to concentrate, it was child’s play for Nathan to sneak an arm behind him. Then, it took only a second to slip the other arm under Vlad’s knees and scoop him up into his lap. It was a terrible shame that, in the process, he managed to knock Vlad’s handful of papers to the floor where, from his new seat, he wouldn’t be able to reach them. Tragic. He was certain to start feeling sorry about it any minute now.</p>
<p>Having an armful of startled vampire was, momentarily, disturbingly similar to having an armful of statuary, at least for the time it took Vlad to process what had happened and resign himself to the change in seating arrangements. When he finally settled against Nathan’s chest, it was a relief. He’d half been expecting protests and arguments, but instead was countered by nothing more than a blandly bemused look that did absolutely nothing to hide the beginnings of a blush creeping up Vlad’s neck.</p>
<p>“See? Completely fixed now,” he reported cheerfully, beginning to grin.</p>
<p>“Fixed what, exactly?” The flush had made it up the back of Vlad’s neck almost to his ears, which was a fascinating contrast to his cool, dry tone.</p>
<p>“The problem with this carriage. Like I was saying. I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s got a terrible flaw.”</p>
<p>“And the remedy to this flaw was to...drag me into your lap?”</p>
<p>“Well, obviously.”</p>
<p>“Obviously, of course. This terrible flaw that could only be remedied by my sudden relocation being…”</p>
<p>Nathan’s smile grew brighter. “This carriage is far too big. I was starting to get lonely, what with how far away you were.”</p>
<p>The blush had made it to the tips of Vlad’s ears, and, Nathan noted as the vampire ducked his head, across his cheekbones as well. “I believe that’s a design feature,” he retorted, clearly still trying to remain aloof despite his current position. That, too, was a fixable problem.</p>
<p>“Hardly a feature, when it puts you too far away to appreciate properly,” Nathan replied, slipping from his light, teasing tone to a lower register that <i>finally</i> made Vlad turn towards him, a gratifyingly startled look only adding to the satisfaction Nathan felt at making him blush. “And I do so enjoy having you on hand to appreciate, sweetheart.”</p>
<p>Now that he had Vlad where he wanted him, Nathan shifted slightly, tucking himself more securely into the corner of the carriage seat so that he could pull Vlad more comfortably against his chest.</p>
<p>“Perhaps,” Nathan continued casually, as if the thought had just occurred to him and hadn’t, in fact, been his plan from the start, “you’d like me to name for you all of the many reasons to appreciate having you over here.” He wasn’t sure if Vlad’s shiver was due to his words, or to the fact that he’d shifted the arm behind his back upwards so that he could card gentle fingers through Vlad’s hair. Either way, the reaction was gratifying, and he let out a low, satisfied hum.</p>
<p>What was significantly less satisfying was the fact that other than shivering, Vlad didn’t seem inclined to give any sort of response to that proposal.</p>
<p>Softly, Nathan said “You can go back to your papers if you want to. But you looked like you could use something else to think about. And if that’s true…” He tugged teasingly at Vlad’s hair as he pulled both hands away entirely, leaving him free to move, or not, as he chose. “All you have to do is ask.”</p>
<p>Vlad was supernaturally still in his lap for long enough that Nathan could think of, process, and discard the idea that perhaps he had overstepped. If he had, he reasoned, Vlad would already be back on the other side of the carriage with his notes. The fact that he was still here made it so much more likely that Vlad wanted something that he was simply struggling to ask for.</p>
<p>“Well, darling? Is there something you want?” Nathan prompted, when he judged that Vlad had been too quiet for too long.</p>
<p>“...please.”</p>
<p>“Please <i>what,</i> sweetheart? Use that clever tongue and clever brain of yours and tell me what you want.”</p>
<p>“Please <i>sir.</i> Tell me.” That had been more than Nathan had been looking for, though not as much of a surprise as it had been the first time Vlad had called him sir, and it was more than enough of a proper request to prompt Nathan to wrap his arms back around him. As Vlad, now so thoroughly beet red that Nathan would be afraid he wasn’t enjoying this if he wasn’t fully aware of how much the vampire enjoyed being teased, buried his face in Nathan’s chest, he chuckled warmly.</p>
<p>“Well. How could I say no, when you ask so politely?” And then, perhaps a little unkindly, Nathan continued “Why don’t we start with your eyes? Show me those pretty eyes, darling. None of that,” he added, as Vlad whined against his chest. “Be <i>good.</i> You do want to be good, don’t you?”</p>
<p>Apparently that was all it took to startle Vlad into looking up at him with a startled breath that was only a few degrees of sharpness away from gasping. “Oh, very nice. Very good,” Nathan praised him immediately. “Here, shift around, let me see you better.” It was something of a challenge to maneuver Vlad from sitting primly across his lap to straddling it within the confines of a carriage seat, but with some determination, and some wriggling on Vlad’s part that Nathan found <i>highly</i> intriguing, they managed to settle themselves with Nathan turned nearly completely sideways so that Vlad had space to wrap his legs around his back. “There you are,” he said approvingly once they were settled, holding his face captive with one hand, his thumb stroking lightly over an almost-too-sharp-to-be-real cheekbone.</p>
<p>“I do love your eyes.” He pitched his voice low, speaking quietly enough that Vlad leaned just a hair’s breadth closer. “I love how focused they get when you’re thinking hard about something. The way they sparkle when you’re about to say something witty.” His smile was softer now than it had been when he’d started, but still had a hint of a wicked edge to it as he added “The way they get all wide and soft when you’re doing such a wonderful job of listening to me.” Vlad’s eyes were close enough that Nathan could see the hint of difference in the color between pupil and iris, and the gradual widening of those pupils that told him just how much Vlad was enjoying this.</p>
<p>“And speaking of your <i>focus.</i> It’s amazing to watch you in front of something you care about,” he continued, warmth spreading through his chest as he watched Vlad’s eyes, impossibly, grow even rounder still. “Like nothing else in the world exists for a moment. You make me feel so good, darling, when you listen to me like this. Like I’m the most important person in the world.”</p>
<p>It seemed that Vlad’s words hadn’t deserted him completely, as he murmured something that might have been “You are,” but which, understandably, got a little garbled when Nathan moved his hand backwards from those glorious cheekbones to stroke at the delicate skin behind his ear.</p>
<p>“Of course, all that focus is because this,” he continued, tapping lightly at the side of Vlad’s head, “is equally incredible. Did I ever tell you, when I first came to Eyrie, I couldn’t quite believe that one person could have his hands in so many projects? I thought for sure you must not <i>really</i> be involved, just playing at it. But I was so wrong. Your mind is indescribably clever, you know. I wonder if you couldn’t solve all the world’s problems, given half a minute to think about them. I’m glad I can keep up enough to appreciate it.”</p>
<p>Nathan wasn’t really surprised to see, at this point, to see that while Vlad was still plainly paying attention, he’d gone soft in Nathan’s arms, and ever so slightly vague-eyed in a way that clearly signalled just how affected he was by the praise Nathan was heaping on him. He couldn’t resist leaning in to plant a brief, nearly chaste kiss on Vlad’s lips. When this caused his mouth to drop open, he couldn’t resist running a light thumb over one fang before going back to rubbing lightly at Vlad’s sensitive neck. He longed to tell him just how beautiful he was at this moment, but beauty was the one thing he knew his vampire had been told he possessed before, and that wasn’t what this moment was about. This was about drawing out all of the little pains, the not-good-enoughs he held onto so tightly, and kissing them better. So Nathan switched tactics.</p>
<p>“You’re being so good for me right now, listening to me tell you all of the wonderful reasons to have you close to me. Aren’t you, baby?”</p>
<p>Vlad nodded, but that wasn’t quite enough for Nathan. He was in the mood to push, and push, and then push a little more, until that worried crease was completely soothed away. “Now, I know my good boy remembers that I told him to use his words. And,” he interrupted, before the ‘yes’ forming on Vlad’s lips could be heard, “to be specific. So, are you being a good boy for me, baby?”</p>
<p>“Yes. Your good boy.” If he hadn’t known better, Nathan would have said that Vlad sounded drunk. The fact that he could talk him into this state without anything more than the slightest touches to help him along made his chest feel like it was filled with candlelight. The addition of the word <i>your</i> only made the feeling expand.</p>
<p>“That’s right. My very good boy,” and if the words came out a bit more of a possessive growl than anything else, he was reasonably confident from the shiver that he could feel travel down Vlad’s back that he didn’t mind. “I think you deserve a reward for being so good, don’t you?”</p>
<p>He’d made the offer expecting Vlad to ask for something <i>more,</i> even though in this position he could tell that neither of them was particularly hard. It startled him when Vlad, obviously taking a long moment to bring himself back into focus, eventually said “Just...tell me again? Please?”</p>
<p>If his reaction before had made Nathan’s heart feel full of light, that raw request threatened to shatter it.</p>
<p>“Oh, sweetheart. Of course I will. Always.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>Just one more time through, and I’ll be ready.</i>
</p><p>Vlad was perseverating, and he knew it. It wasn’t even productive worry. He didn’t have any real voice in Parliament, there was no reason for him to be going back over the notes he’d prepared a week before, but it seemed nearly impossible to think of doing anything else.</p><p>He wasn’t sure whether he was thankful or disappointed that Nathan had seemed content, when they got in the carriage, to settle into staring out the window at the passing scenery. It made it easier for him to narrow his focus down to include nothing but the sheaf of papers in his hand, true, but at this point, he wasn’t so much reading them as obsessing over them, and he knew it. Of course, <i>knowing</i> didn’t seem to assist him in any way with <i>stopping.</i></p><p>Vaguely, he registered that Nathan was saying something, but couldn’t summon the wherewithal to process what it was. If it had been important, he would have made sure he had Vlad’s attention before saying. Right? That was right, wasn’t it? Or should he be paying attention? But surely Nathan would understand that he needed to go through his notes once more before he could put them aside.</p><p>Erring on the side of caution, he made a small noise of acknowledgement, just enough to hopefully say ‘Yes, I noticed that you were talking, and considering that we’re the only ones in this carriage, you were probably talking to me,’ without actually drawing him into conversation.</p><p>Naturally, it didn’t work. Nathan was still talking. “...you’re anxiously waiting to hear…” filtered into his consciousness without bringing any context along with it, but that was fine. It was enough for him to get the gist of what he was supposed to be saying without actually needing to participate. He could still focus on his notes.</p><p>“Oh, desperately,” he replied, not even managing the sort of drawl that would have meant he was playing along with whatever Nathan was saying. He sounded distracted, even to his own ears, and he <i>was</i>, unfortunately, even from the notes he was supposed to be reviewing, with no idea how to pull himself back on track. At this rate, how was he supposed to get this last review of his notes finished, when the words seemed to be in a different place than where he left them every time he moved his eyes?</p><p>“...really a terrible shame...something wrong with it, but I’m afraid...”</p><p>“Yes, terrible,” Vlad agreed again. Maybe if he turned to a different page, he’d be better able to concentrate on his work instead of aimless worry. Of course, the only thing he could concentrate on once he’d shuffled the papers around to reveal the next in the stack was the windmill mechanism he’d been working on sketching out when the need to write out his notes on the various proposals he was keeping an eye on had struck.</p><p>Had he been the slightest bit more aware, he might have grown suspicious of the sudden silence from the other side of the carriage. As it was, he barely saved himself from making an undignified noise when he was unceremoniously scooped up and deposited in Nathan’s lap. It took him a long moment to actually comprehend what had just happened, so absorbed had he been in everything but what was going on around him. Belatedly, it occurred to him that this new circumstance wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It was certainly an improvement over obsessing about notes that he couldn’t actually summon enough attention to read.</p><p>He was almost certainly blushing, he decided with no small amount of resignation as he leaned slightly into Nathan’s embrace, raising his eyebrows at him in an invitation to explain what was going on.</p><p>“See? Completely fixed now,” Nathan chirped, which was possibly the least helpful explanation Vlad had heard today.</p><p>“Fixed what, exactly?” Yes, fine, he absolutely should have been listening, but he was confident that he didn’t deserve to be teased like this.</p><p>“The problem with this carriage. Like I was saying. I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s got a terrible flaw.”</p><p>“And the remedy to this flaw was to...drag me into your lap?”</p><p>“Well, obviously.”</p><p>“Obviously, of course. This terrible flaw that could only be remedied by my sudden relocation being…”</p><p>“This carriage is far too big. I was starting to get lonely, what with how far away you were.”</p><p>For a moment, Vlad couldn’t manage to muster a coherent thought at all. “I believe that’s a design feature,” he managed to say in a tone that, at least to him, sounded as though he was humoring Nathan, rather than struggling to remember how to breathe. It was entirely unfair that a simple sentence like that could knock him completely askew.</p><p>“Hardly a feature, when it puts you too far away to appreciate properly.” Vlad avoided gaping at Nathan through sheer force of will, even though he couldn’t quite keep the expression of astonishment off of his face. “And I do so enjoy having you on hand to appreciate, sweetheart.”</p><p>He didn’t understand how Nathan could just <i>say</i> things like that, like he wasn’t completely upending everything about the world every time he came up with some new way to make Vlad squirm. How was he even supposed to hold up his end of the conversation, now that he had been startled into paying attention to it, when Nathan was just going to come up with the ridiculous notion that half of a carriage was too far away?</p><p>His greedy little heart, already fluttering wildly at the combination of being securely held and told that he was wanted, skipped several beats when Nathan kept talking. “Perhaps you’d like me to name for you all of the many reasons to appreciate having you over here.”</p><p>Vlad was torn between begging, and begging him to stop. Everything about him wanted Nathan’s fingers in his hair, and Nathan’s voice telling him how good he was, but right in this moment, he didn’t deserve it. He hadn’t been listening, he hadn’t even really been <i>working.</i> Just worrying, and worrying about worrying. He hadn’t been good.</p><p>Inconveniently, Nathan didn’t seem to have managed reading his mind, because before Vlad could work his way out of his indecisive spiral, he said “You can go back to your papers if you want to. But you looked like you could use something else to think about. And if that’s true… All you have to do is ask.”</p><p>It was difficult for Vlad to process the words while also trying very hard not to keen at the loss of Nathan’s arms wrapped around him. When he did, he could almost have laughed. It would not have been a happy sound. Nathan thought he was hesitating because he didn’t <i>want</i> it, not for the far more valid reason that he didn’t deserve the praise he was so freely offering. Whatever he had done, or would do, to deserve this, it must have been very good indeed.</p><p>“Well, darling? Is there something you want?”</p><p>Dredging up a word, any word, felt like the most monumental task imaginable when it meant forcing anything he might say past his inner chorus of <i>you don’t deserve this</i>. All he could muster was a quiet “...please.”</p><p>“Please <i>what,</i> sweetheart? Use that clever tongue and clever brain of yours and tell me what you want.”</p><p>Of course. At least he knew, now, exactly what he needed to do to be good. That made it easier to dig up the words “Please <i>sir.</i> Tell me.” He knew the <i>sir</i> would make Nathan happy, and mercifully, it was enough to get Nathan’s arms back around him, pulling him in tight, where he felt less like he might fly apart into a million wisps of thought. Gratefully, he hid his face against Nathan’s chest.</p><p>Just being held would have been enough, but he had asked, and Nathan was a man of his word, he knew that. “Well. How could I say no, when you ask so politely? Why don’t we start with your eyes? Show me those pretty eyes, darling.” <i>Oh, unfair,</i> he wanted to say, but the closest he could come to anything coherent was a quiet whine. “None of that,” Nathan admonished him. And then, of course, the magic words. “Be <i>good.</i> You do want to be good, don’t you?”</p><p>He could no sooner have resisted than Nathan could have sprouted wings and started flapping around the carriage. It felt almost as though his head would have snapped up without any input from his brain at all, and he had to stifle a gasp at the fondness he found in Nathan’s gaze. “Oh, very nice. Very good,” Nathan praised him immediately, and Vlad instantly lost track of the next words out of his mouth in the ensuing bloom of warmth in his chest. He didn’t know how he could possibly deserve so much praise for something as small as looking the right way, but he couldn’t focus on disagreeing when Nathan was in motion again, shifting him into straddling his lap. It was easier to keep looking at Nathan this way, especially with one hand holding his head in place, and that warm feeling in his chest only grew at the realization that Nathan was going to help him be good.</p><p>He let the words wash over him, swaying closer to hear better. It wasn’t the words so much, but Nathan’s tone, warm and gentle and confident, that made him feel like he was melting. He’d be a puddle on the floor of the carriage right now without Nathan holding him safely in place. The thought of kneeling, staying put, being <i>good,</i> was intoxicating. But Nathan had wanted him here, and that meant that doing anything else was out of the question.</p><p>“And speaking of your <i>focus.</i>” Right now, Vlad couldn’t have missed those words if he’d tried, and the warmth that had been unfolding inside of him knotted up suddenly. He must be doing something wrong. Nobody ever brought up focus unless he was being bad. They didn’t ever see how hard he worked, just saw him bouncing from one idea to the next and never stopped to wonder how he was connecting the dots. He was bracing himself to hear that he needed to pay better attention when Nathan continued “It’s amazing to watch you in front of something you care about. Like nothing else in the world exists for a moment. You make me feel so good, darling, when you listen to me like this. Like I’m the most important person in the world.”</p><p><i>Oh.</i> The knots he’d been tying himself into unknotted themselves abruptly as he searched Nathan’s face, wide-eyed, for anything that said he was being less than serious and found nothing but pride.</p><p>“You are.” It was hard enough to form the words without letting the bright, bubbly feeling in his chest spill over, but when Nathan began rubbing a broad, calloused thumb over his neck, he lost track of what he was saying entirely. Hopefully he’d managed to say something intelligible, because it was true. Who could be more important than someone who saw what he was doing, someone who understood?</p><p>He drifted, soaking up every word like raindrops on dry soil, less hearing them than absorbing them. He was <i>good.</i> That was all that mattered. Nathan had said it, even about the things that other people said he was doing wrong. It was true, because Nathan had said it, and probably he wouldn't believe that later, but right now he couldn’t do anything but believe.</p><p>The change in affection, slight as it was, just a closed-mouthed kiss and a finger slipping briefly between his lips, brought him back to himself a little. He was still floating, but with purpose now, waiting to see what Nathan wanted next.</p><p>“You’re being so good for me right now, listening to me tell you all of the wonderful reasons to have you close to me. Aren’t you, baby?”</p><p>He hurried to nod, because nodding was faster than trying to put together the right words to say that yes, please, yes, he was trying so hard, he wanted to be good. “Now, I know my good boy remembers that I told him to use his words. And to be specific. So, are you being a good boy for me, baby?”</p><p>Easier to put together the right words when all he had to do was echo Nathan. “Yes,” he slurred. “Your good boy.” That was right, wasn’t it? Nathan could see how good he was being. He’d said so, hadn’t he?</p><p>“That’s right. My very good boy.” He shivered as much with the pleasure of hearing it confirmed that he’d been good as with the pleasure of hearing how Nathan rasped out the words. “I think you deserve a reward for being so good, don’t you?”</p><p>If it had been phrased any other way, Vlad would have worried that he was being greedy for answering, for wanting anything more than he’d had already. Even so, it took him what felt like ages to work the words loose. “Just...tell me again? Please?” <i>See me. See how good I can be, see how hard I’m working.</i></p><p>“Oh, sweetheart. Of course I will. Always.”</p><p>It was enough to finally let the lightness in his chest float him away.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did this take me about three times as long as it should have to write because I kept accidentally flustering myself? Maybe!</p><p>I think I've finished this now, apart from possibly having to go back through to hunt down stray commas! Series tag is because while I don't feel like I know Ursula well enough to fic her yet, I'm leaving the possibility of a sequel open...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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